I never really gave The Sopranos a chance. While it was driving everyone nuts I was screaming about how much better Oz is. I would catch an episode here and there but nothing ever really grabbed me. I love mafia stuff but this, this is something different. I decided to give it another chance and got hooked on it. I’ve watched the first three seasons quite quickly and I’m ready for more. I can’t really explain why though.

The end of the third season left me thinking, what am I doing? Why do I still watch this? The show does a great job of creating funny, interesting characters and then spends the majority of its time with terrible ones. Meadow dealing with her families reputation and how she fits in while growing up. AJ dealing with apathy and his own health problems. Jackie Jr and other assorted young people trying to break into the family. Tony’s mistresses going bonkos. What is this? Why am I here? This is the kind of garbage usually reserved for daytime shows. Just utter nonsense. Even the “bad guy” of each season has been truly disappointing. They fade in and out, tricking you into believing that this is all leading to some big conclusion or showdown before it ends in a lame splat.

There are a ton of great characters, I could watch a one hour show dedicated to Paulie picking his nose. All of the mafia stuff is awesome, that whole side of things is done really well and is ripe for exploration but it’s consistently left at arms length. I can understand not wanting to pigeon hole yourself as yet another gangster show but throw us a bone here. Just getting a taste of this interesting world with all of it’s fascinating characters is getting old. There is so much here to work with!

Maybe I’m just not smart enough to appreciate everything that is going down. I just read that it was voted as one of the best written shows of all time. I can see it, the writing is great but it’s all for nothing. No matter how hard they try I just cannot muster up the strength to give a shit about Tony’s stupid kids or the women he fucks.